New Zealand launches sales offensive in China

New Zealand is 'firing the first shots' in a push to boost wine sales in China in a collaboration between government and New Zealand Winegrowers.

New Zealand

‘Loading the sling': New Zealand targets China

Wine exports to China were up 50% to NZ$25m in the year to June 2012 – a huge increase from the 2008 figure of NZ$2.44m – but the Wine High Impact Programme (HIP) aims to boost that still further.

The project, a collaboration between the Government’s international business development agency New Zealand Trade and Enterprise (NZTE), and New Zealand Winegrowers (NZW), has held six events in China in the past six months, plus a trial social media campaign which attracted 4,500 followers on Weibo, China’s version of Twitter.

In November, leading Chinese wine influencers and journalists visited New Zealand to tour top wineries and attend a number of seminars.

Now the project is to organise a series of workshops and seminars to give New Zealand wineries market intelligence and help them devise successful business strategies for the market.

‘We’ve been busy loading the sling and identifying targets, and now it’s time to start firing the shots,’ said Karyn Murray, NZTE wine programme manager.

‘This is all about creating sustainable, profitable growth for New Zealand wineries, and we’re excited about the partnership between NZTE, NZW and wineries looking to exploit the huge opportunity that exists in China.’